Allen Creative

October 7, 2020

Our Lockdown Project

Art Prints kept our creative hands busy and are now a successful business!

Like many businesses during the lockdown, things were a little quieter than normal. I wouldn’t say the phones stopped ringing. No, in fact many clients had unexpected opportunities emerge that they needed to implement fast and we worked on some great projects. But it’s fair to say we had an opportunity to catch up on that ‘to-do list’ – things that had needed doing for some time. As a business, we reviewed our subscriptions, our outgoings, our ways of working, and made some great improvements. We were determined to make the best use of this breathing space, turning it into a positive and getting ready to come out the other side more efficient than ever. 

Back in the spring, as I’m sure you’ll have experienced, it wasn’t always easy staying positive. With so many anguishing stories daily in the press, infection numbers rising, and not being able to see our loved ones – we needed to stay busy, and as optimistic as possible.

The amazing thing about creativity is you can immerse yourself in the moment. When you’re creating, whether it’s illustrating, copywriting, or animating, cooking, crafting, or gardening, when you’re in the zone there’s nothing more therapeutic. All the ‘difficult to deal with subjects’ can be pushed to one side, just temporarily, while you’re concentrating on your undertaking. Giving yourself time to live in the moment.

Ok, back on the subject. As a team, for some time prior to 2020, Allen Creative had been designing fun art prints to go up in our studio and for our homes. If we had any spare time between jobs, we would spend it on our poster designs. Our aim was that we would build our own art-print shop website to sell our prints, but we never had the time. Until lockdown.

During the lockdown, staying creative was our way of coping with everything that was going on. Of course, our lovely clients were our priority, but when time allowed, we’d spend it building our website www.creativelifeshop.uk We filled it with our designs from over the years; Popular Culture Icons, Classic Cars, Marvel Heroes. We designed a few more posters aimed at children; Lego Heroes and Unicorns! 

We’ve still a way to go. With so many art print ideas to make a reality. So during lockdown we’re grateful we had the space to build the website and through Facebook and Instagram, we now have a few followers, and buyers.

I’ve noticed, with excitement, a few new businesses started up during lockdown. From cake makers to dog walkers, online nutrition programs to jewelry making. As a nation of small businesses, it’s good to see our entrepreneurial spirit prevails.

If you have a business that needs a bit of help to reach its full potential, we’re your champions!

With our 20 years of experience of working with big brands, and start-up businesses, we have a good perspective, and we’d love to help you succeed during these challenging times.

In the meantime, if Christmas presents are on your mind, take a look at  www.creativelifeshop.uk